Never Leave Kids Alone In The Car

Susan Koeppen Warns Parents And Caregivers

(CBS)  Tammy Russell says she often wonders what her daughter Kaitlyn would look like today.

This September, Kaitlyn would have been entering kindergarten. But five years ago on a hot summer day in California, Kaitlyn's babysitter forgot her in the backseat of a car.

Russell says, "The day that Kaitlyn died, they had estimated that the temperature inside the vehicle was 130 degrees."

And Kaitlyn's body temperature had risen to 107 degrees.

Russell notes, "The coroner estimated that within the first 15 minutes of being left in the car that Kaitlyn succumbed to the heat."

When The Early Show consumer correspondent Susan Koeppen started working on this story, about two weeks ago, there were nine children who had died this year after being left alone in cars.
That number is now up to 17.

Unfortunately, that number will probably go even higher. And experts say cracking open your windows is not enough to keep your kids safe.

"Children being left alone in vehicles is a very big problem," says Janette Fennell, founder of an organization called Kids and Cars.

She says at least 30 children die each year from heat stroke, after being left in cars, often by the people who love them the most: Their parents.

Fennell explains, "In most cases, it's the parents who inadvertently have forgotten to drop the baby at the babysitter or the day care."

How does this happen? Fennell says a common thread in these cases is a change in a parent's normal routine, which can lead to a memory lapse.